March 2014

INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

Great Teaching, Inspired Learning

The Great Teaching, Inspired Learning (GTIL) Steering Committee held its first meeting for 2014 on 10 March. The Steering Committee is chaired by the Secretary with representation from all key stakeholder groups. The Committee provides advice to the Secretary, from the respective representative bodies, on the implementation of the GTIL Blueprint for Action in NSW public schools. Key achievements since their last meeting were noted. They included:

RECOGNISE AND SHARE OUTSTANDING PRACTICE

INSPIRED LEARNING
DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

ENTRY INTO THE PROFESSION

GTIL implementation - Steering Committee Progress Report

The beginning teacher support funding is being distributed to schools as a single payment as close as possible to the teachers entry on duty. As of 10 March 2014, payments had been made for 982 teachers across 628 public schools. A further round of funds will be distributed to schools at the end of term 1, 2014. For more information refer to www.dec.nsw.gov.au/our-services/schools/greatteaching-inspired-learning/entry-into-the-profession Recruitment has commenced and is ongoing for 8 teacher mentor positions to support communities of schools that have significant numbers of beginning temporary teachers. The locations of these positions in 2014 are: Tamworth, Bathurst, Gunnedah, Wagga Wagga, Holroyd, Warringah, Fairfield and Liverpool. It is expected that all mentors will be in place by the start of Term 2.

Initial teacher education

Applications for the cadetships, internships and teach.Rural scholarships closed in November 2013. Following offering of places, three cadetships and 8 internships were accepted. A second round of applications for cadetships and internships closed on 7 March 2014, bringing the total number of internships accepted for 2014 to 9. School placements for the three cadets and 9 interns are currently being negotiated with principals of NSW public schools. It is expected they will commence in schools by 31 March 2014, pending successful Working with Children checks. Offers were made to 18 teach.Rural candidates with 15 applicants accepting their offers as at 14 March 2014. Deeds of Agreement have been forwarded to the 15 teach.Rural scholars prior to the payment of their first year training allowance of $6,000.

Develop and maintain professional practice

The new two-year time period to achieve accreditation commenced from the start of 2014. T1 and T2 forms have been discontinued under the new streamlined approach. The Revised Accreditation at Proficient Teacher Procedures can be found at www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/MainProfessional-Teaching-Standards/national-professionalstandards-for-teachers/ This year work is progressing on the development of new policy advice, procedures, support materials and training to support the introduction, from 2015, of strengthened and streamlined processes for performance management and development aligned to the professional teaching standards.

Entry into the profession

The introduction and first phase of a new online resource, Strong start, Great teachers is now available to support schools and beginning teachers with quality school-based induction. The new model of support for beginning teachers commenced this year. All schools received additional resourcing for each beginning teacher on their first permanent appointment starting in 2014. The additional resourcing is to support each beginning teacher with the equivalent of two hours per week release time and an extra one hour per week release time for an experienced teacher in the school to provide mentoring support. In 2015 those beginning teachers in their second year of appointment will attract an allocation equivalent to one hour per week of release time.

Recognise and share practice

On 12 March the Department launched DEC ClassMovies, an exciting initiative designed to help share teaching practices and school stories across the Department and with the school community, through the creation of short videos. The Departments partnership with ClassMovies allows NSW public schools to create short videos of their teaching practices and school programs. Raw footage captured by the school is professionally edited and then published online to be viewed by others and used as a vehicle for professional collaboration and reflective practice. Go to www.classmovies.com/decnsw to see how you can make a ClassMovie.
W W W. DEC . NSW.gOV. AU

G RE AT TE ACHING , INSPI RED LE A RN ING AT TR AC TING THE BEST A N D B RIGHTEST